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Transcript

Notes

Gennadiy N. Lepeshkin: Cases of infection within laboratories are quite common. There was a scientist named Phillips, maybe you've heard the name, who catalogued 1,452 cases that took place in laboratories all over the U.S. and the West, more generally. And he cited chapter and verse, gave examples and provided statistics, regarding which laboratory procedures are the most hazardous, and what quantity of microorganisms that are pathogenic for human beings might be released into the environment during these procedures. In addition, uh, he was one of the excellent... well, one of the developers of protection methods. Non-specific protection against, you know, having these microorganisms enter the human body. Such as individual means of protection, isolation wards, ventilation cabinets, and, you know, a whole bunch of other technical and engineering systems for preventing humans from getting infected. Back in the day, our lab equipment designers paid close attention to what our American counterparts were learning. We also had cases in Russia of people falling ill, and you're probably aware that there was someone who contracted the Ebola virus.

Slava Paperno: Ustinov?

Lepeshkin: Yes, Ustinov. And he died of it. It was the same story: he jabbed his hand while he was working, immediately, you know, sent the lab assistants away and went for treatment, but since there's no treatment specifically for Ebola, he tracked his own condition for two weeks, and the third week, he passed away. Some staff members who worked with such diseases as brucellosis, for example, also ignored the safety regulations and accumulated a dose over a long period of time, fell ill and ended up with chronic conditions. And by the time retirement rolled around, they had the disease for good, they had it until the day they died. They were never really cured.